We live in a port city, in a house adjacent to about ½ an acre of woods. In addition we keep and feed chickens and ducks in an enclosure that, while picturesque, is hardly rat proof. Rats therefore are a constant presence. Besides eating a significant amount of poultry feed, if they move into the house, as they occasionally do, they are quite smelly and never clean up after themselves. Because they are very smart and very agile, getting rid of them is a real challenge. Snap traps are effective somewhat less than half the time. Mostly when I return to them I find the traps sprung, but no sign of either rats or bait. Glue trays have never held an animal long enough for me to get there and dispatch the creature. Usually if Mr. Rat does tread in the glue the ensuing struggle ends with the tray stuck to a wall or chair leg or bed spread with no prey to be found. Poison disappears soon after placement, but the general rat population never seems much impacted. Following are pictures of a trap that works pretty well for me. While the trap captures the rats, it doesn’t actually dispose of them. That part remains to be done in step two.
The cage open for baiting. 2 x 2's add weight and stability to the unhinged edges of the cage. The base was once a door on a kitchen cabinet.
The bait basket is mounted on wire legs and connected to the trip mechanism by a stiff wire. When the basket is disturbed the trip mechanism fires.
The trip mechanism is a conventional snap trap
The firing pin is a 9" bolt. It supports the cage in a raised position. The bottom of the pin is within the path of the snap rod on the snap trap. When the bait basket is disturbed the snap trap releases and the firing pin is displaced allowing the cage to fall. The rat survives, but is trapped in the cage. (See photos above posted on January 31.)
The Set Trap
Step Two: Disposition
A rat dumped into a large garbage can will die of exposure in a couple of days. They can jump about 18 inches and I'm sure could pull themselves up if they got hold of the lip of a bucket. Water at the bottom of the garbage can would no doubt speed up the rat's demise. Although my wife doesn't like it, I prefer to take the captives to a nature preserve a couple of miles from our home and let them go. She thinks they might return to us so now I spray paint them green before the release. I am allowed to practice catch and release until such time as we see a green rat around the house.
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